Police arrest plane 'hijackers'

2010-05-13 17:14

Berlin - German police said on Thursday they had released two Russian men arrested at a Berlin airport on suspicion of planning to hijack a plane who turned out to be airline employees returning from training.

Police arrested the two at Berlin's Tegel airport on Wednesday saying they had foiled what they believed to be a planned hijack of a Moscow-bound flight.

They were alerted by a woman who overheard the men talking in Russian at the check-in gate and had the impression they were planning to take over the Air Berlin flight, police said.

The men, aged 26 and 49, were released after questioning, police said. They were employees of a Russian aviation company who had undergone aviation training in the Berlin area, they said.

The affected flight was evacuated and searched and the more than 130 passengers on board interviewed by police before being able to continue their journey several hours late on another plane.

- SAPA